Stereotypes In The Movie Crash

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Prejudice and Racism Are Everywhere In the movie Crash, Director Paul Haggis argues that people make assumptions about each other based on fear and isolation. As Detective Waters says: “In L.A., nobody touches you. We are always behind this metal and glass. I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something”(Crash). People in L.A. put barriers around themselves and are hesitant to trust in others; as seen in the film, prejudice and stereotypes are influenced by ethnicity, culture, and economic status. The movie Crash relates to the world we live in today where residents are stereotyped by the location of their neighborhood. For example, in the film there is an upper class white couple (Jean and…show more content…
A brown-skinned person who speaks Spanish is considered a Mexican who does yard work; a black male is considered to be a gang banger and thief. Many of us are judgmental without getting to know who the actual person is and his origin. This is what Haggis is trying to show us in the film: looking beyond skin color can go a long way toward resolving miscommunication and misinterpretations. Economic status is another area to be considered with prejudice and stereotype. In Arizona, for example, those who live in Phoenix are considered of lower class compared to those who live in Scottsdale. In the film, Jean and Rick live in luxury while Anthony and Peter live in the ghetto area. These locations symbolize the prejudice and stereotypes that typically follow different ethnic…show more content…
Hansen is playing country music and Peter says “I understand this music” Hansen just looks at him and says sure you do right here Hansen is stereotyping Peter because he is black. As they keep driving Hansen looks at the way Peter is dressed noticing that he is has muddy shoes and baggy cloths and sees something sticking out of Peter’s jacket. Peter looks at the little statue that Hansen had placed on the dashboard and begins laughing because he does the same thing but Hansen doesn’t know that. Hansen then says what is so funny and Peter says People as Hansen pulls over and tells Peter to get out, Peter getting upset begins to pull out his statue he had when Hansen shoots him thinking he had a gun. Hansen was judging Peter due to his economic status, this is a major impact as earlier Officer Ryan tells Hansen he has no idea who he is yet, and right here he racially misjudged

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